Deutsch's first television appearance was as a contestant on the game show Match Game after he had just graduated from University of Pennsylvania. He won the $5,000 jackpot celebrity match with Betty White.[5][6]

In April 2013, Deutsch's prime-time CNN talk show (Get to) The Point was cancelled after just one week after the Nielsen Company said the show attracted just 268,000 viewers. The show was also mocked by comedian Jon Stewart on his Comedy Central show.[9] In 2015, the USA Network announced a new television show with Deutsch that premiered in November called simply Donny!, a comedy with Deutsch playing a fictional version of himself.[10] In August, 2016 USA announced the series would not be renewed for a second season.[11]

In 2001, he married Stacy Josloff, but they divorced four years later. Deutsch's former girlfriend, Amanda Zacharia, gave birth to their daughter, Daisy, in 2007.[15]

Deutsch purchased a five-story property in New York City for $21 million and reportedly spent another $20 million on renovations in 2006.[16] Deutsch also purchased a $29 million home in East Hampton Village, New York.[17]

On February 25, 2013, on Piers Morgan Tonight, Deutsch declared that he is a member of the Democratic Party.[18] Deutsch has also stated: "I'm a feminist."[19]

On June 21, 2018, Deutsch, in a national broadcast on MSNBC, described American voters who support President Trump as being "like Nazis."

In 2014, Deutsch was ordered to pay a real estate broker a four percent commission for the 2010 sale of his $30 million home in the Hamptons area of New York. He was ordered by the New York Supreme Court to pay $1.2 million to Sotheby's for his breach of contract with broker Edward Petrie.[20][21]